, 1887-08-13
THE POLICE RIDDEN GERMANS.


Everything in "a Teutonic City Is Kept
Strictly Under Police Supervision.
AT the time when the universal cry in
England is for more laws, more legisla-
ton, fresh restrictions in every direction,
it is well to turn ones ayes to a country
where a paternal government hedges
round its submissive subjects with every
possible safeguard and decide whether,
on the whole, people are better off there
than they are with us. Germany under
the Bismarckian system offers a good
field for study; it matters little whether
we go to Prussia or to one of the minor
kingdoms, for the c~hancellor's iron hand
is to be felt on every side. The first
point that will strike an Englishman on
taking up his residence in a German
town-let us say in Munich, which in all
respects is a fair type of the sleepy, beer
drinking, easy going Teutonic city-is
that the word ''polizei'' meets him at
every turn. Whatever he may wish to
know, if it is only the address of a
friend, he must apply to the police;
whatever he may wish to do and cannot
he is told is ''polizeilich .verboten'' for
hidden by the police.
The ordinary law abiding Englishman,
when at home, has no reason for coming
in contact with the police from one year
to another, and probably lives in sublime
ignorance of the whereabouts of the
nearest police station. Not SO in Ger
many. Within three days of his arrival
he is expected to call at the police offices
n fill up a form stating his name, age,
profession and religion, whether he is
married, single or divorced, the object of
his visit and how long he means to re-
main Nor 10 II nnlu fNroic1,ard ~Io p
treated in this inquisitorial manner.
Every person who changes his place of
residence must give immediate notice
thereof to the authorities; every servant
girl who goes to a new situation must no
tify the fact to the police, and allow her
service book-also a compulsory institu-
tion-to be supervised. Every dog must
be taken to the police station, medically
examined, its address entered, and be
provided with a metal label to be worn
on the collar. 1t is ''polizeilich verboten''
to have music in your house after 10
o'clock without the consent of all the
other tenants; to take a lighted candle in
your own loft; to put flower pots on III
own window sill; to sell strong beer after
midday. Every chimney must be swept
by order of the government ice a month
(the sweep usually arriving for the oper-
alton in the middle of the afternoon) and
periodic visits are paid by officials into
every room to see that the careless house
holder does not stand his own furniture
too close to the stove, thereby running
the risk of a possible fire.
The whole drainage system, wretched
and u~nsanitary as it is, is under the super
vision of the police. Needless to say that
the hours for opening and closing shops
and restaurants are all fixed by law, and,
by a peculiar stroke of one sided tyranny,
the tram cars are not allowed to run after
0 p. M, as they would otherwise inter
fere with the cab monopoly. The infrac-
ton of any of these rules is punished by
strictly enforced fines, nor must it be
imagined that the officials facilitate con-
Torrance to the law. Everything is left
to the initiative of the citizen, and the
regulations as to the days, hours and
place of registration, etc., are so numer-
Gus, and SO constantly changed, that the
inexperienced foreigner may frequently
make several weary journeys before red
tapeism declares itself satisfied.
1t is not for a moment disputed that
the majority of the regulations are dis
tinctly beneficial to the general com
munity. 1t is far better to insist on
properly fixed flower boxes than that
the u~nsuspecting pedestrian should re-
ceive a flower not on his head. 1t is
most reassuring to lodging house keepers
thst they cannot unwittingly receive a
notorious scoundrel without the police
Immediately warming them of the fact.
1t is quite true, moreover, that the dog
regulations have been absolutely effectual
in stamping out hydrophobia. Prince
Bismarck is a judicious despot, and in
the eyes of those who look merely to i'm
mediate results a most beneficent ruler
Pail Nall Gazette.